Memory Melody
by brezo-1816
Summary: It takes a familiar song, a memory and a very tasty cookie to relieve Scott of the stress of being a leader...


Anyone who has read my other Thunderbirds fic "Rescue Me" will recognize this as the 'Cookie Incident' (chapter three). Originally I had started out just intending to do an extended one shot of that but then my imagination took me in a different direction. I hope you like it. Please review.

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Scott stretched his arms out in front of him with a yawn. The rescue had been a complete success but it had also been one of the most tiring they'd undertaken in months. His head felt like he'd been run over by a train and all the muscles were aching under the amount of stress he'd been put through recently. Being a Thunderbird was hard work enough but when you had to look after three younger brothers too it began to get more difficult. Not that he would give it up for one minute.

The sudden rumble of his stomach told him it wasn't just his head and muscles complaining but he groaned when he looked at the clock. Onaha wouldn't be serving dinner for at least another hour yet. A small snack would have to do.

The Thunderbird One pilot slowly made his way to the kitchen and opened the cupboard closest to the door. A grin spread across his face when he saw the gold coloured, hand-crafted cookie jar. A Tracy family heirloom. It held cookies, but not just any cookies, oh no. It held Onaha's special, home-made, chocolate chip (with a hint of caramel) cookies. You could almost taste the love and care she puts into them with every bite. On the island they were a Tracy favourite and Scott was no exception.

He carefully lifted the jar out of the cupboard and gently removed the lid. Looking into the ancient jar he saw a single, delicious, Onaha special. The last remaining cookie in her most recent batch. Gordon and Alan wouldn't be happy with him for claiming it but that didn't worry him too much. Alan he could handle. The sprout may act tough but he was easy to beat. Gordon was another matter but Scott assumed he was still helping Brains with the post-flight checks on Thunderbird Three. That would take at least another hour and by then it would be too late to point the blame at anyone.

Confident that it was safe to do so, Scott happily reached into the jar, took the cookie and replaced the lid before carefully putting it back in the cupboard.

Just before the cupboard door closed he heard the beautiful and calming sound of a familiar piano melody coming from the lounge. He closed his eyes and felt the notes flow through his mind like a gentle breeze. It was his favourite ballad, mainly because he remembered how their mother used to play it a lot on the piano. It was her favourite too. Not an easy tune to play either. You would need a few years practise to be able to master it. When he was younger Scott had always believed no one could play it as well as their mother. But he had been proven wrong on his birthday a few years ago…

_The whole family were sat together in the lounge on Tracy Island. It was Scott's twenty-third birthday and he had received presents and good wishes from everyone in turn. Alan had given him a hand-crafted model of a USAF fighter jet that he'd spent the last few weeks working on. Gordon had gone scuba-diving to the under water caverns and taken what he claimed were 'very special, exclusive' photos which Scott had to admit were pretty incredible. John being__ John had discovered a new star and named it after Scott. Jeff had bought his eldest son tickets to accompany Lady Penelope and see the British RAF Red Arrows on show._

_Now there was only __Virgil left. But instead of wishing his brother "happy birthday" and handing him his present like everyone else, Virgil silently walked over to the piano, lifted the lid and began to play._

_Scott recognized the song instantly and had to fight the tears that threatened to appear when he remembered his mother at that same piano, playing the same tune._

_Gordon and Alan sat and listened, appreciating that it was a very beautiful song, but only Jeff, Scott, John and Virgil could appreciate just how truly special the song was._

_Scott watched Virgil as he silently progressed through the song. He was playing it as well if not better than their mother once had. Mastering this difficult song showed everyone just how talented Virgil was and his eldest brother was so proud of him._

_Once the song came to an end, Virgil stood up and looked hesitantly at Scott. At that moment the eldest Tracy son did what his usually strong and controlled personality didn't usually let him do. He stood up, walked over to Virgil and, ignoring the presence of everyone else, hugged his brother tightly. Alan and Gordon's eyebrows shot up in surprise where as Jeff and John just smiled happily._

"_Thank you." Scott whispered into his brother's ear. Virgil's response was to hug him tighter as the melody lingered in their minds._

By the time the memory was over Scott had reached the lounge and was watching Virgil play. He took a bite out of the cookie and leaned against the door frame. Virgil hadn't noticed him so he stayed there until the song had finished.

"That was beautiful, Virg" he told his brother who shyly smiled his thanks. Scott smiled back in surprise. Usually Virgil would have said something like "It could be better." Or "It's not bad I guess." But this time he'd gratefully accepted a compliment of his talent.

Suddenly a yell of frustration was heard in the kitchen and Scott winced. It was Gordon.

"I thought he was doing post-flight checks?" he hissed to Virgil. The middle brother just smirked.

"You didn't expect Brains would need that much help did you?" Scott kicked himself for his stupidity before slowly turning around when he heard someone approaching.

"SCOTT!!!" the second youngest Tracy charged into the room, saw the now half-eaten cookie in Scott's hand and glared at his brother. Scott saw Virgil smirk at the two of them. He had obviously guessed what was going to happen and he knew as well as Scott did that, even being the eldest, when Onaha's special cookies were involved, against Gordon, Scott didn't stand a chance.

Desperate to escape and not wanting Virgil to see his humiliation, Scott dashed out of the room with Gordon almost on his heels. He reached the dining area and looked over his shoulder to see Gordon gaining on him. He growled furiously which made Scott jump. When he turned back round he let out a yell as he had to swerve to avoid a chair. By now Gordon had caught him but as he tried to grab him Scott made a leap for it and landed with a splash in the swimming pool. He surfaced quickly and looked at his hand. The cookie was a little bit soggy and no longer edible but it was still there which meant he had won. He laughed happily as he looked at Gordon who stormed off with a face like thunder. He was shortly replaced by Virgil who had come to see what had happened and grinned at his soaking wet brother.

Virgil was glad to see his brother so happy. Being the leader was very stressful and he had noticed that the pressure had been building on Scott's shoulders lately. He had hoped that playing that song would help and it appeared to have done so, of course the cookie and ending up in the pool had helped too. He would have to compliment Onaha and thank Gordon for his unintentional part in it later. Right now he wanted to capture the moment. He left the room but quickly returned with a sketch pad and pencils, sat down on a chair facing the pool and began to draw……


End file.
